Chapter Two: A Discovery
Amelia and Zelgadiss stared after them almost baffled by the sudden exit the two had made.
"Wow," Amelia spoke first.
Zel snapped back to earth.
"What do you think brought that all about?" Amelia asked still utterly confused by Gourry's offer to buy Lina ice cream. Usually when Lina got ice cream she just forced Gourry to pay.
Zel just shrugged and sipped at his coffee. Still thinking about what Gourry had said earlier.
"Come on, Zelgadiss. Don't you have an idea why Gourry did that? You always have ideas!" Amelia declared.
"He did that so we can talk." Zel said without a single hesitation. Also, without realizing what he was saying.
"Why would Gourry want that? ... Zelgadiss?... Zelgadiss?
"Zel?...?" Amelia waved her delicate hand in his face, gaining no response. Not even a blink of the eyes.
In her concern Amelia took Zel's wrist to check for a pulse.
"Zel? Zel? Zelgadiss!" Amelia panicked when she was unable to locate the chimera's pulse.
Said chimera finally began blinking rapidly in bewilderment.
"Oh, Zelgadiss I'm so glad you're alright! I thought... well... why didn't you answer me?" Amelia, still caught up in her unnecessary worry, didn't realize that she still had the chimera's hand in hers.
Zel, who is quite aware of her soft warm hand against his cold and rough one, looked down at their hands for a few seconds. Then blushes and look at Amelia. Who, in seeing what he was staring at, lets go of his hand, and immediately starts to blush.
"I'm sorry, you... I thought... I-I... I was." Amelia tried to find the words. Which is a rare experience for our justice loving princess.
"Yummie!" squealed the eighteen year old girl, which gives you the impression that she is more like twelve. Now that Lina had her ice cream the two started roaming the streets of the city. The young handsome man, standing beside her just smiled and chuckled softly while shaking his head.
"You know Lina, the way you're acting gives people even more reason to think you're only a kid." Gourry said still smiling. "Look, people are staring at you."
Lina looked up from licking her ice cream cone that Gourry had bought for her. "Who cares!" she exclaimed. "They're all just dazzled by my beauty!" Gourry couldn't resist teasing her. "Or maybe, they just think you are a strange little girl who loves ice cream." Gourry thought for a moment about what he just said, and realized how cruel and hurtful it sounded. Never the less he couldn't really take it back now...
A brief flicker of hurt crossed Lina's face, then it was covered by her stubborn pride. Lina turned away from Gourry, intending to ignore him until he apologized. Or at the very least, until she couldn't stand ignoring him any longer.
Gourry noticed Lina was giving him the cold shoulder and ignoring him. So he looked around to divert himself from saying something that might give her more reason to be mad at him.
As he was distracting himself, the swordsman noticed a small bundle on the side of the street. He stopped, turned, walked over to the object and bent over to inspect it. Wait. Did it just move? Gourry looked closer. I thought I saw... What is this?
His suspicions were correct. They had to be... What else could it be? But who would be so cruel? He thought.
"Lina, look." Gourry said with the most gentle and somber voice Lina had ever heard.
Somehow Lina remembered she was mad at him even with the new attitude of Gourry's that she was witnessing. Lina pretend that she didn't hear him.
"Someone... here on the side of the road... It's a... " Gourry sounded almost as if he could cry when he said the words, "A baby."
Out of the corner of her eye she saw Gourry bend over and pick up the small bundle. He hugged it to himself and then began murmuring to it gently and comfortingly.
Lina finally gave in to her curiosity and turned to face Gourry.
"Come on Gourry! You won't fool me! Stop trying to pretend that..." She paused hearing a faint whimper.
As Lina looked closer she could see Gourry really was holding a squirming, maybe a month old baby. Lina's emotional barriers and walls were crumbling fast.
"Is it a boy or girl?" Lina asked. Then she thought to herself; The poor thing! How long has it been lying out on the street? Who could just leave a helpless baby alone like that!
"She, it's a she," Gourry announced. He had just checked inside her diaper to find the answer to the question Lina had asked him.
"Give her here." Lina ordered as the baby started to cry.
End Chapter 2
Kyoudaichan: Again, you should review. If you don't, then... I just won't add Xelloss and Filia into the whole spectacular story! (Updated 5/25/10)
Review!
